Life at the Little Theatre: All the latest news from Southport Dramatic Club's HQ

Each production of any particular play can be markedly distinct from another.

Every director and cast bring their own interpretations.

That’s one of the things that keeps live theatre so fresh and engaging for its audiences – even if they’ve enjoyed a play before, seeing it again can be a like a brand new voyage of discovery.

Our latest SDC production, One For The Road opens this week at The Little.

Willy Russell originally wrote his classic comedy in the mid ’70s.

The famed Merseyside playwright updated and revamped it a decade later to capture the spirit and pretentions of the ’80s.

It has since become a firm favourite with theatregoers and societies ever since.

This time One For The Road is directed by the wonderful Tracey Batchelor, a dancer and actor by profession.

She’s worked in theatre, danced internationally and played Michelle Jones in long-running TV soap Brookside.

She now develops new generations of performers, teaching at the Formby School of Dance and Drama.

She’s also no stranger to this play.

Twenty years ago she played the part of Pauline in a production by Sefton Theatre Company, also on the Little Theatre stage, so when the SDC asked her to take the reins she felt confident she knew the show.

On rereading the script, however, she was surprised by how much more there was to the story than she’d remembered.

From the auditions and through early rehearsals she saw people bring their own ideas for the characters, taking them in equally funny, but refreshingly different directions to the actors she worked alongside two decades ago.

This really made her sit up and think, challenging her preconceived ideas.

One For The Road is a naturally funny and sharp play.

Tracey fondly remembered the humour.

What she’d forgotten was just how poignant and sad elements of the story are; from the very beginning Tony O’Keeffe, Jennifer Corcoran, Paul Wilkinson and Sam Roberts have hit the laughs, but also found real depths and dimensions to the characters they play – Dennis, Pauline, Roger and Jane respectively.

Tracey believes it is vitally important for any director to allow the actors free rein to explore their roles.

She sees her job less as dictating how they should act, more as drawing out their interpretations and making sure they gel together and are in tune – like a conductor for an orchestra performing a grand symphony.

She says that as an actor you always see the play through the eyes of the character – but a director’s perspective is much wider, it’s a very different focus and she’s been delighted to work with four very experienced performers who have brought such light and shade to the proceedings.

Seats are in high demand for this one and as an extra bonus, if you come to see One for The Road, you can get a special discount on bookings for our second Willy Russell play in March, the SDC Youth Group’s production of Blood Brothers.